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Shoot the Ball, Not the Player!

In Latin America, we live in a soccer frenzy world. With this frenzy comes much heckling, screaming, shouting, and even throwing inanimate objects onto the soccer field. Sometimes there will even be fist fights between fans to the point where they may develop into riots. However, there comes a point where this frenzy goes too far, like shooting a soccer player.

Club America is one of the more popular soccer teams in the Mexican soccer league. Last week, two of their players were shot in separate and unrelated incidents. Their famous leading scorer, Salvador Cabañas, was shot in the head at a bar for reasons still unknown. The very next day, his teammate Juan Carlos Silva was shot in the gluteus maximus (ass) in a robbery attempt of his vehicle. Both players survived, but talk about bad luck for Club America.

I know incidents like this happen throughout the world, but there is something wrong with our society when my first reaction to a story like this is “oh, another one?” One of the most shocking incidents involving a soccer player getting shot and killed involves the Colombian soccer player Andrés Escobar. Take a look at his deadly mistake:

Who would have thought that auto-goal would have cost him his life. Granted, Andres’ incident involved Colombian drug lords and their gambling losses that resulted from his auto-goal in the World Cup match against the US. A mistake like that should never cost a human being their life!

The World Cup is just around the corner and South Africa is doing what it can to reduce the risks reflected in the country’s high crime rate. So let the frenzy continue! But remember, shoot the ball, not the player.